Part 12:

Justin found himself watching Katie as she moved around his kitchen, clucking her tongue at the mess she found. She managed to put together a surprisingly good lunch, aided by Angel’s canned peaches and Miss Beckie’s strawberry preserves, along with other canned goods, some bought and some gifts. "You’re a much better cook than I am."

"Thanks. Mama taught me h--" she stopped abruptly as the tears welled up again.

"Sugar, do you want to talk about it? I can take you back to Angel if you--"

"NO! I can’t go back there . . . not yet."

"Wanna talk to me?" he asked softly, standing behind her.

Katie leaned back against him, still crying. Between sobs, she managed to brokenly get the whole story out. The nights she would sneak out to visit Beckie. The fact that she knew about her father’s frequent visits to the place. Her shock at learning that Beckie and her teacher were sisters, and the ultimate betrayal of finding out that her entire life was a lie. Justin patted her back and let her cry.

"Wow . . . that’s a lot to take in." Katie nodded and sniffed. She stood up and wiped at her eyes before picking up the dirty dishes and putting them in the wash pan. Justin went out to the barn. He came back to find her sitting at the table. It was obvious she had been cleaning. She couldn’t fight back a yawn.

"Why don’t you get some sleep, and then I’ll take you back about supper time."

"I don’t want to go back . . ."

"You have to. There’s a lot of people that’ll be worried about you."

"I guess . . ."

"Bedroom’s that way." Katie nodded. Justin walked in behind her, opening a drawer. He pulled out a shirt and handed it to her. "It’s clean."

Katie took it and thanked him. He smiled at kissed her forehead. "Sweet Dreams, Sugar."

 

Justin closed the door and went out onto the porch. Outlaw stretched out at his feet, and he ran his booted toe lightly over the big dog’s belly. Bandit went in the house and he heard her whine and scratch at the bedroom door. Katie must have let her in, because it got quiet and she didn’t come back out. Justin shook his head and stood up, walking to the barn with Outlaw on his heels. He grinned as a tiny kitten came bounding up to them, pouncing on his foot. Outlaw growled and tossed his head. He would never hurt the cats. Justin reached down and picked the kitten up. Another kitten came around the corner of an empty stall. Then another. Before long, Justin had one kitten in his arms and three more trying to climb up his pants leg. The kittens’ mother came out with one more kitten and the kittens bounded over to her, the one in Justin’s arms squirming to be free. He laughed and set it down then turned to Cookie.

After caring for his horse, Justin turned and left the barn, pausing to laugh at the scene before him. A dog less than half Outlaw’s size was bounding around him in happy circles. He needed to name that one. Getting an idea, he whistled for the dogs and went back to the house. He stopped when he saw the dust cloud in the distance. He waited for the rider to get closer, smiling to himself as he recognized her.

Anna reined in her horse in the yard, hopping down.

"Anna!" Justin called happily, running her way. He threw his arms around her and spun in a circle. "It’s good to see you! How long have you been in the area?"

"Whoa! Calm down Justin," she laughed as he put her down. "I’m happy to see you too." She turned serious. "I got to town a day or two ago. I think I can help you. I was coming to tell you when I heard you’d up and kidnapped the mayor’s daughter."

"Oh . . . um, I guess it does look that way . . . but I didn’t really . . ." Anna had stopped listening as she stared at the door.

"Oh, God, Justin . . . please tell me you didn’t."

"Huh?" he turned and forgot to breathe. Katie was standing in the doorway, wearing his shirt and little else with Bandit by her side. It took a moment for Anna’s quiet "Dear Lord, they’ll hang you for this," to register.

 

Katie watched as Justin hugged the woman, looking so happy to see her. She thought she might cry again hen she saw the way he smiled at the other woman. She wanted to die. She was about to go back inside when they looked up and saw her. She stood there, frozen for a moment. Then she realized what she was, and more importantly wasn’t, wearing and went back inside. She went back into Justin’s bedroom and put her dress back on, swiping angrily at the tears that just wouldn’t stop. She thought back to when he kissed her before her nap. True, it was only on the forehead, but wasn’t it still a sign of affection? And that dream was so . . . . She grew angry as she realized that it meant nothing to Justin. He was an outlaw and just because he was Angel’s brother didn’t mean he was anything like her. She stopped short and thought that maybe, on the other hand, he was JUST like Angel.

"What am I thinking?" she muttered to herself. No matter what Angel did for a living, she was worthy of her name. Katie decided it was the stress of the day’s events that was making her think such things about her friend. That was when she decided where she wanted to go. She walked out of the bedroom and looked at Justin. "I wanna see Angel. Now."

"Sure, Sugar--"

"And quit calling me that. There are two people allowed to call me that and you are most certainly not one of them."

Anna looked from Justin’s confused face to Katie’s angry one and whistled. Then Katie’s words registered. She looked at Justin. "Angel?"

Justin just looked at her. She knew he would explain later. "Let’s go," he said, walking to the barn to saddle Cookie and trying to figure out what he had done to make Katie so angry with him.

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